I need a big wallet

Living in Singapore requires me to carry around Singapore money but I also still carry some US money.  We can use US money at our Navy Exchange and our pool club.  We have a Navy Federal Credit Union right next to the NEX where we can get our US cash then 25 feet away is a currency change booth so we can easily convert it to Singapore money.  I joke with the woman working at the currency converter that without her our bank wouldn't have US money.  She just gives it back to NFCU at the end of the day.

Over the holidays we did a fair amount of traveling.  We took a cruise that stopped in Malaysia and Thailand and then went to Tokyo, Japan for a week.  I was doing a bunch of currency converting to prepare for these trips and had so much different money it was amusing and confusing.

For our cruise the girls had some Malaysian and Thai money and they were constantly asking is this the right type of dollar? The currencies for many of the other countries are colorful which is fun but in reality it would make it easier if each country had their own color.

On a regular basis I have at least two types of currency on me, but 3-4 different ones at the same time required some organization.  I ended up buying myself a large wallet with 3 different separators to keep each currency in it's own spot.  Those of you who saw me on a daily basis walking around Vienna knew I often didn't even carry a purse, just a wristlet that kept my phone, an id, a credit card, and $20. This was a huge change to buy a big wallet, luckily I had already switched to carrying around a big purse to fit my umbrella and napkins (2 essential items to have in Singapore).

It's been a neat experience seeing the different types of currency and learning about the exchange rates. I found an app that easily does the currency conversion so I alway know what it would be in US dollars.  It's strange to have a $1000 or even $10,000 bill on you but that might only be worth $10US. This is just one new experience that has made us all a little bit more worldly.

Long Winters Break- Off to Tokyo

As I mentioned in another post SAS gives 3 weeks off for winter break.  Following our Christmas cruise we still had 2 weeks off.  I knew that would be too much time hanging out at home, so I had planned to bring the girls to Tokyo for a few days.  Tokyo was Jen's number one destination while living here.

The US Military has a hotel in Tokyo and guess what, they had rooms available the week we were hoping to take our trip.  I had heard that in Japan they rarely use English, so staying at an American hotel would make the trip so much easier.

I met with a wonderful woman at the concierge desk who helped get us set up for our first two days of fun.  She suggested some places to see and she had perfect suggestions.

We first ventured to Harajuku.  This area in Tokyo has been hyped in America through Gwen Stefani's songs Rich Girl and Harajuku Girls.  This area sure lived up to the expectations.

There were tons of street stores selling selling clothes, backpacks, shoes, and Japanese trinkets.  Harajuku is known for teenagers hanging out dressed up like Japanese comics.  They wear flamboyant clothes and the girls often have blue or pink hair in long pigtails.  A surprise for us were crepe shops all along the main shopping drag.  The dessert crepes looked good but we weren't about to try the tuna fish crepe (see number 42 in the photo below)!

The concierge also suggested we head to Kiddyland- a toy store but it was more than an Toys-R-Us.  It was  5 floors of toys, stuffed animals, character plastic wear, clothes, stationery, and all sorts of items to go along with various characters like Hello Kitty.  The girls are fans of a character Rilakkuma- a cute bear.  We ended up staying here quite a while and even made a second trip on our last day.

 Following Harajuku we headed to Shibuya which is the Times Square of Tokyo.  We got there just as the sun was setting so you can see the crowds on the streets and then the town in lights.  We went into  building 109 that was a mall that happened to be having a HUGE sale- all the sales girls were just outside their stores with mega phones- I assume shouting to come in and check out their sales.  It was so crazy and fun to see.

The next day we headed to Tokyo Disneyland.  The park was exactly like Disney World, except, we thought we'd see many different nationalities like you do in the US, but most of the attendees were Japanese.  We laughed to ourselves as the Winnie the Pooh ride had Pooh telling his story in a strange voice speaking Japanese.  We also noticed they omitted Piglet from most the story and highlighted rabbit- I assume rabbits are a more accepted animal than the pig.

 Our last day I brought the girls to see some Temples.  Ironically this area was the most touristy area we visited.  There were tons of souvenir stores all around the temples and we saw people from all different nationalities here.  All store fronts had signs in English welcoming patrons.

 The restaurants were tourist friendly too (ie spoke English) so we stopped in a sushi place for a bite to eat.  We have missed Sweet Ginger in Vienna (the sushi rolls in Singapore always have mayo in them- YUCK). We weren't sure about Japan so we opted for some nigiri instead.  It was good, but we all still love Sweet Ginger the best.

The trip was a complete success.  We can cross one more area off our "TO VISIT" list!

Christmas Cruise

The Singapore American School gives 3 weeks off for winter break.  This is really nice since so many people have a far distance to travel to see family.  Unfortunately, some of Fred's time off was while the girls were in school, so we only had 1 week of overlap.  This week was the Christmas week.  It was too short to fly back to the US, but we also didn't really want to just stay in Singapore.  We always celebrate with our extended family so just the 4 of us would seem pretty lame.  Especially with the girls getting older and not getting toys for Christmas- those clothes and other "boring" items just don't provide fun.  Additionally, there was no longer the magic of being home for Santa.

It was only a few years ago when the truth of Santa is was confirmed. I remember buying lots of gifts for the girls from Fred and me, Santa, and both sets of grandparents; I guess I got confused what gifts were from whom.  Katie and Jen opened a gift and I said something about getting a really good price on it.  Katie looked at the tag on the box and it was from Santa.  She said "I knew it and now it's ruined - you're Santa."  Later that day she proceeded to write in her new journal "The Worst Christmas Ever."  The magic of the holidays is so special when the kids are young and all excited about having been good and hoping to get what they asked for.

With the magic gone in our house now and no more toys it was looking to be a long Christmas Day.  Instead, we decided to take a Christmas Cruise.  Cruise ships are always fun and festive- they sure feed you plenty of food and food always makes things seem festive.  The weekend before Christmas we shared our gifts with each other.  When we were done Jen proclaimed, "I didn't get anything fun."  Those great days of being a child and making a new lego project or playing with your new littlest pet shops all afternoon on Christmas Day were over.  This year we took off for a 5 day cruise stopping in Malaysia and Thailand.

 

Getting ready to board on our Holiday Adventure

On Christmas Day we pulled into a port in Malaysia.  Malaysia is not not predominately a Christian country so there were not many decorations in the town.  Some stores were closed for the holiday, but we found many deals in Little India.  We ended up having lunch is a coffee house without any holiday decorations but it had WIFI- essential for sending those Merry Christmas messages.

  

Christmas Day in Malaysia.  In addition to shopping in Little India, and eating at a coffee shop we toured a Malaysian/Chinese heritage museum.  What more would you want to do on Christmas Day!

Beach walk in Phuket Thailand after a day of shopping.  I declared I could live here- this was our second visit to Phuket- it is so beautiful.

Ship Christmas Tree- how could you not feel festive with a tree this big and holiday music being pumped through this promenade all day long?

All in all it was a different (not bad nor good) but different Christmas.  The cruise was fun and the Christmas will be one we won't forget and glad we had the experience of doing something different- that seems to be what living in Singapore is making us do- always something different.